Why are we striking?

The University and College Union (UCU) is currently engaged in two disputes: one over governance of our pensions, and one over pay and equality (in particular, we want to address workloads; insecurity; real-terms cuts to salaries; and lack of progress on gender, race and disability equality. UCU members at 60 universities nationwide intend to strike starting on the 25th of November.

These two disputes are at the heart of two legally separate strike actions that are running concurrently.  Below you'll find some information on each of these disputes.

1) Pensions

In 2018, UCU completed 14 days of strike action over changes to members' pensions. Employers had previously changed the pension scheme to the detriment of members - lecturers lost the equivalent of 13% of their salaries due to changes imposed from 2011 onwards. Employers were hoping to move the pension from a defined benefit scheme (where your pension payments are guaranteed) to a defined contributions scheme (where your pension payments depend on how the investments do). In other words, employers wanted to open up pensions to a lot more risk, while asking members of the pension scheme to pay more out of their salaries. At the same time, staff were told that the pension scheme was in deficit; this was not true

UCU balloted for strike action, which members supported. When university management bodies refused to negotiate in good faith, your lecturers picketed for hours in sub-zero temperatures and snow. Throughout the UK, an estimated 42,000 staff went on strike with 575,000 teaching hours being lost.We received a huge amount of support from students and colleagues, and the end result was that the employers came back to the negotiating table, and both sides agreed to a panel (the JEP) to help make decisions in the future.

As a result of changes to the pension scheme the employers are currently proposing, each member stands to lose £240,000 in retirement. Pension members no longer trust that the people managing the pension scheme have their best interests at heart, and do not want to pay more for a pension that will pay them less.

Pensions are not a nice bonus for us - they are an integral part of the pay package we receive for the jobs we do. Cutting pensions, opening them up to risk, or asking us to pay more for them, is equivalent to reducing our pay. This is why we are fighting to protect them.

2) Four fights, one voice

UCU members are frustrated that no progress is being made on four other key issues that affect them. These are issues of basic fairness: between men and women, young and old, white and BAME. We are fighting for a fairer university for all.

a) Pay inequality

• Black academic staff earn 12-13% less than white colleagues of the same gender and experience
• Women in UK universities are paid on average 15% less than their male counterparts
• In many universities, these trends are actually worsening

b) Job insecurity

• Large numbers of staff are employed on fixed-term (non-permanent) contracts, casual contracts, and zero-hours contracts. Many of these staff are paid hourly.
• Hourly paid staff can sometimes end up earning less than minimum wage
• Many hourly paid staff aren’t paid for the time they spend giving feedback to students, marking essays or preparing seminars

c) Rising workloads

• The average academic works 55 hours a week, and is paid for 37.5

d) Pay deflation

• The value of pay in higher education has fallen by around 20% since 2009
• Falling pay also affects our pensions: changes to the pension scheme made in recent years ensure that our pensions are based on a career average salary, so less pay now means less pension later
• Vice-chancellors' (university bosses') pay is rising, while staff pay is falling

It’s all connected – the same reason so many people work insecure, badly paid jobs is the same reason why university staff pay and conditions are deteriorating. 

See below for some links between these two disputes: